Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 169943 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 850(@200wpm)___ 680(@250wpm)___ 566(@300wpm)
“Put a hand down for me,” Gwenna says, reaching up and pressing herself against the boulder’s surface. “We can do this together.”
I reach down for her, and Gwenna latches on. Holding on to her threatens to pull me back down and I yelp in distress as her sweaty hand slips out of mine.
“Time!” Master Crow roars.
“Time? Already?” Lark puts her hands on her hips, glaring off at the distant fledgling team that is already at the far end of the obstacle course. “What the mucking fuck? We barely got started!”
Master Crow claps his hands. “Let’s do it again, Magpie fledglings. Try to do better this time.”
“Again?” Mereden echoes, her lower lip quivering. “He’s joking, right?”
I haul myself up to a seated position atop the boulder and look up at Crow. From the sour expression on his face and the smug ones of his fledglings, no, I don’t think he’s joking at all.
As I watch, one of Crow’s fledglings rubs his hands under his eyes, pretending to cry.
Another grabs his chest and pretends like he’s jiggling his breasts, and makes kissy faces as he does.
I exhale heavily. Cretins, all of them. “Come on. Let’s get back to the start and put Lark next to Kipp. Maybe that will make a difference.”
* * *
No matter how we rearrange our team, we’re terrible. By the time the day is over, we’re all covered in mud, scratched up, scuffed, bruised, and thoroughly defeated. Even Kipp isn’t his normal perky self. The moment we return to Magpie’s lodgings he dumps his shell in the corner and crawls inside, not wanting to socialize with us.
I don’t blame him. I’m disappointed in us, too.
“That wasn’t training,” Gwenna protests as we sit down in the kitchen. “That was abuse.”
“At least they helped us wash off before we came home,” Mereden says in a timid voice. She sits delicately at one of the seats at the table, manners elegant despite her fatigue. “It could be worse.”
Gwenna makes a face at her. “They weren’t helping us. They were throwing buckets of water on us because we lost. That was their reward for ‘winning’ each round of the obstacle course.”
“Yeah, but at least our clothes are cleaner.” Lark shakes out her rumpled sash and then thumps down upon a chair at the table. She grabs a couple of slices of bread and a wedge of cheese, shoves the wedge between the bread, and takes an enormous bite. “Why were we training with Master Crow anyhow? He’s an asshole.”
Everyone looks at me.
I say nothing at first, because I’m too tired. I’m relieved to see that the nestmaid assigned to Magpie’s house stopped by earlier today and left fresh bread and snacks out for us, because I don’t think I have the energy to get out of this chair and make myself something to eat. I pick one of the nuts out of a bowl decorated with guild designs and nibble on it thoughtfully. “Hawk left this morning to go on a retrieval mission.” He woke me up before dawn to let me know, dressing quickly in his leathers as another Taurian waited near the front doors to the dorm. “He was the one who arranged our training with Master Crow.”
I believe his exact words were He owes me a favor and no one else will have you, but I keep that part to myself.
“A retrieval mission?” Mereden echoes, her dark eyes wide. “What’s that?”
“Taurian,” Lark answers between bites. When she doesn’t elaborate, Mereden indicates for her to continue. Lark clears her throat. “Taurians are really good in the tunnels. They’re strong and sure-footed and have excellent direction sense. They’ve got an excellent sense of smell, too, and they can keep going when humans get tired. Whenever someone gets lost in the tunnels, they send in a few Taurians to fish ’em out. Happens all the time.”
“It does?” Gwenna wrinkles her nose, glancing over at me. “So why don’t they just send in teams of Taurians instead of humans?”
“Control,” Lark announces. “Arrogance and control. Humans want to be in charge of everything. Humans want the artifacts. And there’s not enough Taurians in the city anyhow. I think they get tired of our shit and retire after a few years to go live in the countryside and raise little baby Taurians with the lady bulls.” She shrugs. “It’s the guild’s dirty little secret. No one has to be as good at surviving in the tunnels as they used to be because the Taurians will bail them out. Aunt Magpie would joke that passing the test is the hardest part of the job.” She opens her sandwich and stuffs another slab of cheese between the bread.
I eat a few more nuts before posing a delicate question to her. “You knew she was a drunk?”
Lark makes a face. “Everyone knows. Everyone keeps hoping she’ll turn it around, but she never does.”